Polonia Dortmund strikes again

8-0 goals, six points. The results of the first two matches of the second leg of Bundesliga 2012/2013 look marvelous. With the second victory over Nuremberg on Friday evening, Borussia underlined that they are not willing to give away any dreams of the championship and that they are going for the second rank in the league even more. With Leverkusen drawing Freiburg on Saturday, it is only point to the opponent of next week while Bayern Munich is scheduled to play against Stuttgart tonight. Looking back at the 3-0 victory, there is no need to say that it was freezing cold but the team did everything they could to warm the hearts of the 80.000 fans in the Westfalenstadion.

Before the match

After the impressive victory in Bremen last week, Nuremberg looked like a secure win. However, it was also an opponent not to be underestimated and there were several matches this season which looked won before the whistle, but turned out differently. Remember Düsseldorf? Or the away match in Nuremberg? Therefore, Jürgen Klopp was sure to keep his team focused and only missed two players in Subotic and Owomoyela due to injury. In comparison to the starting line-up of last week, Großkreutz took place on the bench once again. Kuba replaced the Dortmunder Jung and it turned out to be a very good decision by coach Klopp. Nuremberg could not rely on the qualities of Stephan, Marcos Antonio, Hlousek and Ngankam.

The fans of Nuremberg were backed up by their friends of the hated blue-white neighbour. Because of the long friendship between the Ultras of both clubs, the fact that GE did not play on Friday and the possibility to stand their ground in the Westfalenstadion, around 200 smurfs supported Nuremberg as well and made their presence felt before the match with a little choreography in the colours of black, red, blue and white and some smoke-bombs. The Südtribüne quickly responded with chants to Scheisse 04 like "Death and Hatred to S04", but the remaining part of this confrontation remained peacefully.

First half

Even though the winter finally gained control over Germany during the last couple of weeks, the pitch in Dortmund was of high standard because the green was exchanged during the winter break. Therefore, the brilliant technicians of Borussia did not take long to get used to the ground and quickly stormed in front of the opposing goal when Kuba stormed through Nuremberg's defense and assisted his Pole colleague Lewandowski whose shot slightly missed the goal on the right side (5th). Borussia looked to gain the early lead but the best opportunity of the first 15 minutes could be seen directly in front of the Südtribüne. Former Borussian Markus Feulner assisted Pekhart with a cross from the right side and Pekhart appeared totally alone in front of Weidenfeller because the Dortmund defense took a nap. Fortunately, Weidenfeller was awake and saved the header with a brilliant reaction. Because the defense was unable to clear the ball in time, a second opportunity arose for Nuremberg and Weidenfeller had to save another ball, this time a shot from the edge of the penalty area taken by Feulner himself (15th). Borussia could thank our goalkeeper for not being behind in this situation and Weidenfeller underlined his extraordinary form of this season. Sixty seconds later, Gündogan sent Piszczek through the Nuremberg defense and the Pole fell to the ground after getting in contact with Gebhart. Referee Weiner awarded the penalty to Borussia. Tough decision, not a clear foul, but so many possible penalties for Borussia were rejected over the course of this season so that you could see this as some form of late justice. Kuba took the responsibility and scored with his third penalty in the jersey of the black and yellows (18th). The early lead brought self-confidence for the Borussians and therefore, they only needed two more minutes to double the lead. After a great assist by Mario Götze who dribbled on the right side and then brought the ball into the box, Kuba reacted quickly and hit his eighth goal of the season. 2-0 Borussia, 21 minutes had been played. Everything really looked like a nice evening in the cold city of Dortmund, in its heart, the Westfalenstadion.

In the following minutes, the match already looked decided. Borussia was in full control of the match-up and even though they were still going for the 3-0, they were not pushing too hard and played a solid ball. Some good chances followed, but a lob by Piszczek was saved by Nuremberg's Schäfer (28th) while Lewandowski was off-side when he scored in minute 42 after an assist by Piszczek. Once again, our Poles were a big difference maker and therefore, Borussia went into half time with a solid and deserved lead.

Second half

During the second 45 minutes of the match, Borussia was still always in control but took out some power and kept the result. In minute 60, Lewandowski and Götze assisted each other but the final shot from short distance by Robert was blocked by Schäfer with a nice save. Another great chance saw Reus being through the defense after a brilliant assist by skipper Sebastian Kehl. Reus lobbed the ball over goalie Schäfer but missed the goal for some inches as well (67th). One of the highlights of the second half, however, took place in minute 76 when Nuri Sahin finally got home and was brought into the match for Kuba. Of course, he was welcomed and celebrated with a big wave and after the match, he got his own celebration in front of the Südtribüne where he needed to do another wave which of course he did with a big smile on his lips. You could simply feel how happy our number 18 is to be back at home in Dortmund. Around ten minutes later, the 80.000 supporters – or at least the Borussian part of them got another reason to celebrate when Reus assisted Lewandowski and this time, Robert left no chance for the goalie and scored for the 3-0 (88th). A good conclusion to a very professional, very solid victory over Nuremberg.

Aftermath

Matches like these have to be won in a way like this. With no big efforts, Borussia got an early lead and never gave it away, left only one chance for the guests and brought the three points home in a very professional way. Now rank two could be taken next week with a victory in Leverkusen but this is a story which will be told next week. It was good to see that Nuri Sahin is back and that the team was able to win in a secure way over a team like Nuremberg. 2013 definitely can continue this way.